iggnaseous's review against another edition
4.0
Walton has written a love letter to Sci-Fi specifically and the power of books/fiction in general, as a form of escape, and as a basis for reflection and expanding the imagination. Among Others celebrates the capacity to get lost in the words, "to pull down inside a book and hide" (122) or soar. It's simultaneously a book about trauma, loss, and the process of grief. The exact detailing of the events that lead to the trauma come out slowly, in tickles and spurts, successfully building suspense like the phases of revelation of Gatsby's identity in Fitzgerald’s book.
Questions about magic, its nature, and ethical ramifications forms one of the more intriguing aspects of the book. Mor, the teenage protagonist, struggles to explain magic, and the tentative nature of her explanations "work” insofar as Mor is relatively inexperienced and enmeshed in stories. Mor's mind is so full of fantasy and fiction, it's unclear that the faeries, ghosts, and magic she sees and experiences has any more substance than the fiction she reads. She's an unreliable narrator, like Megan in Girl on a Train. Still, by referring to fiction written in the real world, our reality bleeds into hers, and the reader experiences some of Mor's disorientation at losing her twin, trying to adapt to her new life with her estranged father and strange aunts, and attending a boarding school where she's very much an outsider. Fiction grounds her, until she finds it isn't quite enough: she needs a "karass" (a term Walton borrows from Kurt Vonnegut), real human contact with like-minded people, so performs magic that may or may not have brought the Sci-Fi book club into being.
Given the power of magic to rewrite the past and influence human will, on what grounds is it appropriate to use magic at all ? Mor's agonizing over this sort of question forms the central moral conflict of the book. Her mother tried to use magic to gain power, and Mor and her twin sister were able to stop the witch, though they had to pay a price. Protecting others from harm, Mor's thinks, is the one good use of magic, though she had doubts even here. She's convinced that her action of putting a comb in a bog leads to the death of a man who moved away, and wonders if Wim likes her for herself or because of the magic she used on him. The moral dilemmas of magic are the basis for a running commentary in the novel.
Less satisfying elements of the book include the abrupt ending. The battle with the "big bad" at the end lasts all of two pages, and Mor seems to counter her mother's attacks easily. We don't get to see the fate of Mor's relationship with Wim, if her leg /pelvis heals properly, or whether she ever goes to a Con. All of this suggests that it isn't the point of the book. The real battle with the big bad, the one with lasting consequences, happened off stage, in between the first scene with her sister and the second when she's heading to school.
Among Others offers a meditative / reflective take on loss and grief. It's the story, in a sense, of Frodo after his return to the shire and before he travels to the undying lands. Mor’s books and fantasy about faeries and magic help her cope, and eventually lead her to a community, friends, and even a lover. Given the choice to join her twin as a ghost or faerie herself, she decides (or remembers) that she's a full person, not just half of one. Though her wounds will never truly heal, she'll continue to grow, learn, love, and live. Walton affirms that life’s worth living, because of all the good books and the people in the world with whom we can talk to about them, and invites us to do the same.
Questions about magic, its nature, and ethical ramifications forms one of the more intriguing aspects of the book. Mor, the teenage protagonist, struggles to explain magic, and the tentative nature of her explanations "work” insofar as Mor is relatively inexperienced and enmeshed in stories. Mor's mind is so full of fantasy and fiction, it's unclear that the faeries, ghosts, and magic she sees and experiences has any more substance than the fiction she reads. She's an unreliable narrator, like Megan in Girl on a Train. Still, by referring to fiction written in the real world, our reality bleeds into hers, and the reader experiences some of Mor's disorientation at losing her twin, trying to adapt to her new life with her estranged father and strange aunts, and attending a boarding school where she's very much an outsider. Fiction grounds her, until she finds it isn't quite enough: she needs a "karass" (a term Walton borrows from Kurt Vonnegut), real human contact with like-minded people, so performs magic that may or may not have brought the Sci-Fi book club into being.
Given the power of magic to rewrite the past and influence human will, on what grounds is it appropriate to use magic at all ? Mor's agonizing over this sort of question forms the central moral conflict of the book. Her mother tried to use magic to gain power, and Mor and her twin sister were able to stop the witch, though they had to pay a price. Protecting others from harm, Mor's thinks, is the one good use of magic, though she had doubts even here. She's convinced that her action of putting a comb in a bog leads to the death of a man who moved away, and wonders if Wim likes her for herself or because of the magic she used on him. The moral dilemmas of magic are the basis for a running commentary in the novel.
Less satisfying elements of the book include the abrupt ending. The battle with the "big bad" at the end lasts all of two pages, and Mor seems to counter her mother's attacks easily. We don't get to see the fate of Mor's relationship with Wim, if her leg /pelvis heals properly, or whether she ever goes to a Con. All of this suggests that it isn't the point of the book. The real battle with the big bad, the one with lasting consequences, happened off stage, in between the first scene with her sister and the second when she's heading to school.
Among Others offers a meditative / reflective take on loss and grief. It's the story, in a sense, of Frodo after his return to the shire and before he travels to the undying lands. Mor’s books and fantasy about faeries and magic help her cope, and eventually lead her to a community, friends, and even a lover. Given the choice to join her twin as a ghost or faerie herself, she decides (or remembers) that she's a full person, not just half of one. Though her wounds will never truly heal, she'll continue to grow, learn, love, and live. Walton affirms that life’s worth living, because of all the good books and the people in the world with whom we can talk to about them, and invites us to do the same.
sandeestarlite's review against another edition
3.0
A little slow to start but really fun if you're a SF fan. The story of Mori as she discovers herself after losing her twin and becoming disabled herself. She spends a lot of time reading in the library as she can no longer participate in the all important 'games' at her boarding school.
bry_oh_knee's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Have to say this was a very unusual read. Very slow pace until the last chapter where everything comes to a head before you realise it's the end...
Part diary part Science fiction reading list all a bit weird.
Its a very emotional look at a character dealing with grief and an unusual take of magic in the real world. I honestly could not describe it beyond that. Its definitely worth reading but its undeniably an odd book. (Audio book is okay if you have no idea what a Welsh accent should sound like)
Part diary part Science fiction reading list all a bit weird.
Its a very emotional look at a character dealing with grief and an unusual take of magic in the real world. I honestly could not describe it beyond that. Its definitely worth reading but its undeniably an odd book. (Audio book is okay if you have no idea what a Welsh accent should sound like)
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Domestic abuse
Doesn't go into detail about anything. One minor scene where an adult attempts to sleep with the main character but brief and almost clinical in its descriptionsortabadass's review against another edition
3.0
There were things that I enjoyed deeply about this novel: the narrator's voice, the description of her interactions with faeries, and the ambiguous nature of magic. But aspects of the book were also offputting -- unfortunately, for me, this also included much of the book litanies and descriptions. I am a reader (of course) but I am not as well read as Ms. Walton. While I've been getting into older science fiction, especially within the last few years, many of the writers and novels listed are simply things that I have no emotional or mental connection to.
"I care more about the people in books than the people I see every day."
"Magic isn't inherently evil. But it does seem to be terribly bad for people."
"Things will happen that I can't imagine. I'll change and grow into a future that will be unimaginably different from the past. I'll be alive. I'll be me."
Spoiler
"I care more about the people in books than the people I see every day."
"Magic isn't inherently evil. But it does seem to be terribly bad for people."
"Things will happen that I can't imagine. I'll change and grow into a future that will be unimaginably different from the past. I'll be alive. I'll be me."
hoperu's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this, and hope there is a list out there of all the books Morrie mentions reading. My biggest problem is that there really wasn't much of a plot, and since I was listening to this, instead of reading it on paper, so I kept waiting for something to happen to move things along, and then all of a sudden it was the end.
snowbenton's review against another edition
1.0
Mor is one of the most unlikable heroines I've ever encountered. She's supremely self-involved, cruel, potentially mentally ill (I don't actually believe she saw fairies), and feels more like a vehicle for Walton to list books she likes than a real character.
I also hate books that are set in the past for no real reason other than the author can't be bothered to handle technology and new book releases. It's the worst kind of nostalgia.
Even worse than this, this book is boring. Everything interesting that happens to Mor happens before the story starts, and though the general gist gets revealed in bits and pieces, you never learn the full story. Instead, you are treated to endless rants about books she likes which only make sense if you've read them.
Also, am I really supposed to believe that a book club would meet every single Tuesday and every attendee had time to read that author's entire catalogue in seven days? Even if the fairies were real, this was still the most unrealistic thing in the whole book.
I also hate books that are set in the past for no real reason other than the author can't be bothered to handle technology and new book releases. It's the worst kind of nostalgia.
Even worse than this, this book is boring. Everything interesting that happens to Mor happens before the story starts, and though the general gist gets revealed in bits and pieces, you never learn the full story. Instead, you are treated to endless rants about books she likes which only make sense if you've read them.
Also, am I really supposed to believe that a book club would meet every single Tuesday and every attendee had time to read that author's entire catalogue in seven days? Even if the fairies were real, this was still the most unrealistic thing in the whole book.
_bethb's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the story. However, I became bored with all the detailed descriptions of books the main character had read.
chadkoh's review against another edition
5.0
I wish the world would plant more trees
So we may have more books like these
So we may have more books like these
leahvanderweide's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't love the book when I started it, so I changed over to the audiobook. So glad I did. It's everything I needed right now.